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Budapest Notification No. 215
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

Communication by the Government of Japan Relating to the Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD)

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify him of the receipt from the Government of Japan, on March 10, 2004, of a written communication dated March 8, 2004 (ref. ST/WP/92), relating to the acquisition of the status of International Depositary Authority by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD), which states that this Depositary Institution is located on the territory of Japan and includes a Declaration of Assurances to the effect that the Institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements concerning the acquisition of the status of International Depositary Authority specified in Article 6(2) of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, done at Budapest on April 28, 1977, and amended on September 26, 1980.

Pursuant to Article 7(1)(b), the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD) shall acquire the status of International Depositary Authority under the Budapest Treaty on April 1, 2004, that is, on the day indicated in the communication.

April 1, 2004

Communication from the Government of Japan Relating to the Appointment of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD) as an International Depositary Authority

[Original: English]

COMMUNICATION

The Permanent Mission of Japan to the international organizations in Geneva presents its compliments to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has the honor to transmit herewith, in relation to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, the communication from its home Government regarding the acquisition of the status of International Depositary Authority by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD).

ANNEX

Declaration of Assurances

The Government of Japan guarantees that the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD) complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. The Government of Japan understands that this communication shall be disclosed to all the Contracting States and Intergovernmental Industrial Property Offices.

2. Detailed information as to the capacity of NPMD to comply with the requirements in Article 6(2):

NPMD is a part of the Department of Biotechnology (DOB) in the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) founded in 2001. DOB also consists of three organs, that is, Biological Resource Center, Biotechnology Development Center and Genome Analysis Center. Twenty-four thousand microorganisms and 15,000 DNA clones have been deposited with it and 11,000 cultures have been released.

DOB has been performing its duties as one of the biological resource centers under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Among its 160 staff members, 11 are to be engaged in the depositary occupation. Since all staff members are government officials, it is assured to comply with the duty of secrecy, being impartial and objective. NPMD has a fire-and-quake-proof building for depositary operations and backup generation systems for emergency purposes.

3. Kinds of microorganisms accepted as patent deposits:

NPMD is to accept bacteria, actinomycetes, yeasts and fungi, which belong to biosafety levels 1 and 2 according to the NITE classification, and archea, bacteriophages and plasmids (DNA clones).

For deposits of recombinant DNA molecules, the highest acceptable physical containment level is P2 as described in the Ministerial Ordinance stipulating Containment Measures to be Taken in Type 2 Use of Living Modified Organisms for Research and Development (2004), which is based on the Law concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms (2003).

4. Schedule of fees:

JPY

Original deposit (storage for 30 years)

139,000

New deposit

19,000

Communication under Rule 7.6

2,000

Issuance of a viability statement where a viability test is requested

34,000

Issuance of a viability statement on the basis of the last viability test